Laser Pointers on Amazon are Getting Out of Hand

Are high powered lasers being sold on Amazon anything like what they are advertising? We look at the wishy washy world of laser marketing, and how an otherwise completely legal product is pushing the legal limits by marketing these high powered lasers to the much larger consumer market of childrens pet toys and classroom pointers.

[TorqueTestChannel]

To be clear I think you SHOULD be able to buy the laser you want (we linked them above), and it's not illegal at all for them to sell it. If they list it as an industrial laser with class or watt rating it'd even help you find the best deal for the power!
But they won't. Because enthusiast lasers is a small market, so they call them cat toy laser pointers, classroom aids and hiking flashlights which we're pointing at as being stupid. Cuz it is.

[taylorsharp]

The scary thing about many cheap green lasers, is that they use an infrared diode and a frequency doubler crystal to create the green output. If they get cold, the doubler can stop working and it may appear that there's no output, but it's still blasting high power infrared. They also leak a lot of infrared when working correctly.

[_Ptat_]

As a laser enthusiast, I’m very concerned with how these high power lasers are marketed. It really bothers me that someone is thinking they’re getting a simple pet toy but is actually getting something that could do significant damage to your pets, or even your eyes.

[GrannyBX]

"Let your pet catch something real before you are done playing", what a wholesome and important message! I always felt laser pointers riled my cats up too much without getting rewards. You obviously like our pet friends.

[Teth]

Another very important point about the cheap green laser pointers (and other cheap green laser products in general) is that they are almost always DPSS lasers, which means they are actually an infrared laser rated at about 5x the output power of the green laser it's a part of behind a nonlinear crystal. The most expensive component of a DPSS laser is usually the IR filter after the nonlinear crystal that prevents the 4/5 of the IR beam that isn't used by the crystal from leaving the laser. It is also technically optional since the laser works without it.

What that means is that cheap green laser pointers are also infrared lasers, and very powerful infrared lasers at that. Infrared bounces off of different things than green light, so the two beams can also end up misaligned with one another, meaning that you can have a visible beam that might even be at a safe intensity, but also an invisible blinding laser beam just bouncing off in some other random direction. If you don't understand what a DPSS laser is and how it works, do not buy cheap green laser pointers, the savings aren't worth your eyes.

[graealex]

One of the few situations where Chinese manufacturers severely over-deliver. Usually you can take their specs and divide them by two, or sometimes by ten.

[stevenlatham]

You guys just keep knocking it out of the park. Every video you post is informative and honest. Plus the unpredictability of the next video keeps the channel interesting. You guys literally have had a positive influence on the tool industry.

[robloxpwnr]

Appreciate that you said “let your pet catch something real before you’re done” around 7:15 Cats and dogs can get pretty stressed out when they’re not able to catch let alone physically touch the thing they’re chasing and it can really mess with their heads

[alexwang]

Many of the green lasers are poorly filtered DPSS lasers as well, so they are far more dangerous that they could appear. As a kid, I have burned my right cornea with one when it got really cold and stopped emitting green, so I stared into the 808nm pump beam; now I have a blur spot in the center of my right vision, and my dominant eye has shifted over to my left eye.

[hbracerx]

I have no idea how the "torque" test channel ends up testing lasers....but I love it! Great video, thanks for the information.

[noahscarbrough]

These things are legitimately scary. I had the one at 10:44 at one point, but fortunately had the sense to get rid of it quick. The safety equipment I would have needed to not go blind was way more expensive than the laser itself.

[MayaPosch]

Always saw laser pointers as more of a gimmick as a pet toy. Way more fun to just have them chase some feathers or bundle of old newspaper strips tied to a string. As a bonus that keeps the floor really, really clean.

I'd say these laser pointers might be good for presentations. The 'projection screen just caught on fire' part is just a good excuse to get out of meetings faster. Love it.

[the_undead]

Something that he did not point out in this video that I cannot stress enough is that for any of the lasers that exceed 500 mw if you look at the spot on the wall without safety glasses you will have eye damage, so the only reason you should be buying those kinds of lasers is if you're a research lab on a budget or if you know how to handle this crap safely and want to experiment with it. One mistake and it's lights out forever

[blindsniper]

I would love to see you guys do some laser tests on the cheap gun and airsoft lasers. I have a feeling a lot of those are going to be overpowered. Considering the probability of these devices being shined in eyes is even higher, I think it might be worthwhile.

[jthomp]

Test the strength of winches. Maybe do a 12k lbs category and then do a smaller atv/utv weight rating category. Adding a hydraulic one would be interesting too

[SCIFIguy]

I knew a guy in high school who had one of these high powered lasers. I shined it at the concrete floor and just the reflection of it gave me auras that didn’t go away for a while. I’m pretty sure I gave myself some minor permanent damage, I get sensitive to bright lights more than I used to.

[William_Borgeson]

I bought a green laser from Amazon, came in a "tactical" case with one of those larger batteries. Took it out on a rainy night after fully charging it and woah yeah much brighter than I thought. Made the mistake of pointing it at a glass of water in my kitchen, I was seeing spots for hours (No goggles). It scorches paper and I refuse to use it without safety goggles and as far away from people as possible. Thanks for the insight, most people don't understand how dangerous they can be. Subscribed.

[ALAPINO]

Sometimes I forget to wear my eye pro and face shield: I operate a 10 kW peak Nd:YAG LASER. My hands and my watch (316L and sapphire crystal) are always covered in tiny LASER-induced holes.

(On a serious note: A lot of those included safety glasses/goggles are fake. It's super important to only wear certified eyewear for that wavelength range of LASER radiation you will be exposed to)

[havacomment]

Laser beans 🤣 Well done! Am I the only one instantly put off by any product that uses the classic shady eBay seller, "cram as many key words in to the listing" style of product description? Maybe if they snuck in a bit of honesty about it, "legally gray laser flashlight torch lighter burning eye flesh melt fire starter office accessory for kids and pets and wild animals and adults and sentient AI".

[ContraVsGigi]

If you plan to test lasers in the future, I would sugest to also add a spectrum test. These cheap lasers usually do not only produce the bandwidth they are said to produce, but you have good chances to find some other beams over there. A quality one will only make what the specifications say.